Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a 2 ft gauge (narrow gauge) railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about 88 km (55 mi) long. It climbs from about 100 m (328 ft) above sea level at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 m (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling, using six zig zags and five loops to gain altitude.

Read in : MALAYALAM

Six diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled service, with daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum — India's highest railway station — and the steam-hauled Red Panda service from Darjeeling to Kurseong. Steam-enthusiast specials are hauled by vintage British-built B-Class steam locomotives. The railway's headquarters are at Kurseong. On 2 December 1999, UNESCO declared the DHR a World Heritage Site.

Two more railway lines were later added, and the site became known as one of the mountain railways of India.

History

Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected with Calcutta (now Kolkata) by a metre gauge railway in 1878. Between Siliguri and Darjeeling, Tonga services ran on a cart road - the present-day Hill Cart Road.Franklin Prestage, an agent of the Eastern Bengal Railway, approached the government with a proposal to lay a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling.

Ashley Eden, lieutenant governor of Bengal, formed a committee to assess the project's feasibility. The proposal was accepted in 1879 after a positive report by the committee,and construction began that year.

Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Company was hired to construct the line, and by March 1880 track was laid as far as Tindharia, and Lord Lytton, the first viceroy to visit Darjeeling, rode to Tindharia on the train.The stretch from Siliguri to Kurseong opened on 23 August 1880, and from Siliguri to Darjeeling on 4 July 1881.The company's name was changed to Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Company. In 1951, the railway was purchased by the Indian government and was absorbed into the government railway organisation (It was then managed by Assam Railway). Assam Railway (including the DHR) became part of the North Eastern Railway zone in 1952,and part of Indian Railways' Northeast Frontier Railway zone six years later.